Alternative Approaches for Exploring Levantine Neolithic Architecture

Several authors have emphasized the role of social changes in the development of village economies and complex political systems. Architectural variations are one source of evidence for these changes. We compare one class of Neolithic building, that occurs at 'Ain Ghazal, Beisamoun, Jericho and Yiftahel,with simpler and more "complex" multicellular structures that occur in many Neolithic settlements. Some of the approaches with which we are exploring the differences between these structures offer non-intuitive results, often contradicting interpretations drawn from typological analysis of plans, for the organization of prehistoric households.